Apparatus for preheating and moistening compressed air.



No. 68|,357. Pa'ienfed Aug. 27, |90I.

W. 0; WEBBER.

APPARATUS FUR PREHEATING AND MUISTENING COMPRESSED AIB.

, (Application led Aug. 29, 1900.) (No Model.) Z'Sheets-Sheet. l.

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No. 68l,357. Patented Aug. 27, I90I.

W. 0. WEBBER. r

APPARATUS FOR PREHEATING AND MOISTENING CUMPBESSED AIR.

(Application led Aug. 29, 1900.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM O. VVEBBER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO VALTER C.CARR, OF NEW YORK, N. Y. I

APPARATUS FOR PREHEATING AND MOISTENING COMPRESSED AIR.

SPECIFICATIN forming part of Letters Patent No. 681,357, dated August27, 1901.

' Application filed August 29, 1900. Serial No. 28,483. (No model.)

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM OLIVER WEB- BER, of the city of Boston,county of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Apparatus for the Preheating and Moisteningof Compressed Air; and I hereby declare that the following is a clear,full, and exact description of the same.

This invention relates to an improved form of apparatus for thepreheating and meistening of compressed air before being used in airengines or motors, and has for its object the combination of aself-feedin g furnace and a system of heating pipes and deflectors whichmay be added to indefinitely, so as to increase the capacity of theheaters, also so arranged as to heat the air progressively, and also atthe same time and progressively as the heating of the air isaccomplished means for the introduction of moisture in finely-dividedparticles into the compressed air, so as to moisten the air at the sametime that it is heated. p

.In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of asingle-series heater on the lines l l on Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a sectionalplan of the same heater on line 3 3, Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a sectionalelevation of the heater on the line 2 2, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectionalplan of a two-series two-progressive heater. Fig. 5 is a part-verticalsection on the line 4 4,

Fig. 4, through the firepot c', surrounding pipes g', and sectionalcovering.

The same letters apply to the same parts in each View. A

A is the base-burning heater, consisting of a fire-brick-lined furnacea', grate a2, ash-pit as, and fueltube c4, extending downward from thetop of the furnace and axially centered with relation to the furnace'a.This fuel-fed tube is provided with a removable cover a5. This heater isprovided with a vertical opening a6, at the rearward part thereof,through which the hot gases of combustion pass into the heat-absorptionchamber B, which consists of a series of vertical diaphragms b b b2 b3b4 b5 h6, having openings through them alternately at top and bottom andbeing arranged in alternate, so that heat passing over the top of thefirst diaphragm on the top of a two-part header D, which also serves toact as an air-moisteuing chamber. The twoV passages d and d2 of thetwo-part headerD are connected by means of vertical return-bends of pipecl3 and d4, which may be built of ordinary pipe and fittings or may bebent inverted-U -shaped tubes. These vertical bends of pipe projectupwardly into the heat-absorption ychamber B, so as to be in aboutmid-position between the vertical deector-plates b,b',b2, b3, b4, b5,and h6. Through the bottom of the inlet-chamber of the twopart headerDproject moistening-nozzles E, provided with spray-tips c, and thesemoistching-nozzles E are connected by suitable ttings to a supply ofwater under pressure. These nozzles are so arranged as to be in thecenter of the vertical axis of the inlet-leg of the Verticalinverted-U-shaped tubes cl3 and (Z4, and the top of thevertically-extending spray-tips e are located below the opening into theinlet-legs of the inverted-U- shaped tubes cl3 and d4, so as to obtainan ejector action in accelerating the passage of the air through thesetubes.

The action of this apparatus is as follows:

A ire being started on the grate a2 and in the furnace c of the heater Aand the tube a4 being filled with coke or anthracite coal, the hot gasesof combustion rising from the burning fuel between the top of thefurnace a and the bottom of the fuel-tube c4 passes to the top of thechamber surrounding the tube a4, through the opening c, over the top ofthe vertical diaphragm b, down between this diaphragm and its alternatediaphragm b', under whose bottom it passes, then upward between b andb2, over the top of b2, and so on alternately up and down, beneath, andover and between the succeeding alternate diaphragms until it finallyescapes through the chimney connection C at the top of the last section.At the same time that this combustion is taking place compressed air isbe- IOO ing let into the inlet-chamber el' of the twopart header D byany suitable pipe connection at the end farthest from the furnace, andat the same time water, under a slightly greater pressure than that ofthe air, is being let in through the nozzles E and spray-tips e. Thecombined action of the air under its own pressure and the jet ofmoisture causes the air to rise very rapidly in the legs of the U-shaped tubes d3 and d, dac., and pass over and down into theoutlet-section d2 of this header. As the compressed air, therefore,

is forced up through the inverted-U-shaped i tubes it is thoroughlyimpregnated with moisture and at the same time brought into contact withthe heat passing alternately downward and upward around the outside ofthese tubes and in this way absorbs moisture and heat during its passagethrough these tubes.

In the diagram, Fig. 4, of a four-section two-series heater the airafter entering the air-inlets d5 in the rst set of headers D and D'passes upward through the inverted- U- shaped tubes, as described above,and is partially heated and at the same time partially moistened by asupply of water entering through the pipe G. The air thus partiallyheated and moistened passes onward from the header D, through the piped", into.the header D, and the air after passing through the header Dpasses through the pipe da into the header D3 and after fpassing throughthese headers escapes through the outletpipes di d10 du. During thispassage through the second set of headers D2 and Dand their connectingpipes, which are situated nearer the furnace than the set firstdescribed, the airis further heated and at the same time furthermoistened by a supply of water passing through the supply-pipe G', whichis coiled around the outside of the fire-pot A', and thus heated beforepassing through the spray-nozzles e into the second series of headers D2D3.

The whole of this heating apparatus is surrounded by an air-space H andnon-conducting covering I, with the exception of the ashdoor, cover tothe fuel-tube, and connection to the chimney, so as to prevent radiationof heat and cause the heater to be as ecient as possible.

1 am well aware that preheaters for raising the temperature ofcompressed air have been used for some time; also that the idea ofpreheating air before using it in motors is old; also that the idea ofmoistening air for use` in motors is old; but

What I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesis as follows 1. In an apparatus for the progressive moistening andheating of compressed air, the combination with a compressed-airpassage, of a furnace having a series of chambers adapted to be heatedat different temperatures, air-circulating pipes extending through saidchambers, and a moistening apparatus operatively arranged to dischargevinto each of said circulating-pipes, substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus for the progressive moistening and heating ofcompressed air, the combination with a compressed-air passage, of afurnace having a series of chambers arranged at successive points nearerto said furnace, air-circulating pipes extending through said chambers,and amoistening apparatus consisting of a series of dischargenozzles,each of which opens into a circulating-pipe, substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus for the t progressive moistening and heating ofcompressed air, the combination with a compressed-air passage, of afurnace having a series of heatingchambers arranged at successive pointsnearer to said furnace, air-circulating pipes extending through saidchambers, and a moistening apparatus consisting of discharge nozzles,each of which opens into a circulating-pipe and are arranged in seriesat successive points nearer to the furnace, substantially as described.

4. In an apparatus for the progressive moistening and heating ofcompressed air, the combination with a compressed-air passage, of afurnace havinga series of heatingl chambers composed of sectionsprogressively arranged at successive points nearer said furnace andoperatively connected alternately at their top and bottom,air-circulating pipes in each of said chambers, and a moisteningapparatus consisting of aseries of dischargenozzles arranged relative tosaid pipes at successive points nearer to the furnace, substan tially asdescribed.

In an apparatus for the progressive moistening and heating of compressedair, the combination with a compressed-air pas= sage, of a furnace, of aseries ofheatingchambers operatively connected thereto, consisting ofair-chambers connected by circulation-tubes interposed between diaphramsextended alternately in opposite directions and a moistening apparatusoperatively arranged to discharge into each of said chambers,substantially as described.

6. In an apparatus for the progressive moistening and heating ofcompressed air,`

the combination with a compressed-air passage, of a furnace having aseries of heatingchambers operatively connected thereto, consisting ofsectional air-chambers connected by circulation-tubes operativelyconnecting the inlet and outlet sections of the air-chambers,- and amoistening apparatus operatively arranged to discharge into each of saidchambers, substantially as described.

7. In an apparatus for the progressive moistening and heating ofcompressed air, the combination with a compressed-air passage, of afurnace having a series of heatingchambers, operatively connectedthereto,consisting of air-chambers connected by circulation-tubes, and amoistening apparatus consisting of spray-nozzles operatively arrangedIdo to discharge into each of said chambers, and moistening apparatusconsisting of sprayoperatively connected to a supply-conduit nozzles,operatively connected to discharge passing through the furnace,substantially into the inlet side of each of said chambers, I5

as described. substantially as described. 5 8. In an apparatus for theprogressive In testimony whereof I have hereunto afmoistening andheating of compressed air, fixed my signature in the presence of twosubthe combination with a compressed-air passcribing Witnesses.

sage, of a furnace having a series of heatingchambers connected thereto,consisting ofa WILLIAM O' 1o plurality of sectional air-chambersconnected Witnesses:

by tubes operatively connecting the inlet and l AMY F. WILLIAMSON,

outlet sections of the air-chambers, and a JOHN MURRAY MARSHALL.

